In circuit court: reckless driving, pornography cases continued

Rajesh Patil, 26, of Haymarket, appeared in district court Tuesday (Oct. 6) in a neck brace and on crutches due to an apparent broken leg. He was arraigned on a felony charge of eluding/disregarding police and two misdemeanor charges of general reckless driving and reckless driving at speeds in excess of 80 to 130 mph that resulted in a motorcycle accident causing serious injuries to himself and a passenger.

On Aug. 19, Virginia State Police Trooper S.J. Riddle reported that a motorcycle, operated by Patil, with his passenger, Rachel C. Kieler, 21, seated behind him, took off at a high rate of speed from the traffic light at Clevenger’s Corner in Culpeper County, heading west on U.S. 211. Riddle attempted to pull them over, but the motorcycle sped away. The trooper chased them into Rappahannock County.

As they approached the town of Washington, near the entrance to the Rappahannock County Library and Visitors Center, police said Patil turned off the four-lane highway and headed down Old Mill Road. On the curve just before Old Mill reaches Warren Avenue, the driver lost control. Both Patil and Kieler were seriously injured when they crashed and were thrown from the bike at the end of the 15-mile, high-speed chase. The bike and Patil wound up in a ditch alongside Warren; Kieler wound up about 20 feet away, atop the embankment. Both were flown to Fairfax Inova Hospital.

Patil’s case was continued to Dec. 15. The court wanted to schedule the continuance at an earlier date, but Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff said Kieler’s injuries would prevent her appearance in court until after Thanksgiving.

The court also continued, to Dec. 1, the case of Zachariah Gregory Wayland, 24, of Flint Hill. Wayland was arraigned Aug. 27 in district court on four counts of possessing child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint filed by RCSO Deputy Shawn Walters, three pictures stored on electronic devices in Wayland’s possession were verified by the Internet Crimes Against Children database to be of “young females well under the age of 18” and most likely under the age of 16. Nearly 80,000 pornographic images were found on Wayland’s cell phone and thumb drives. These images are being inspected for age verification.

In circuit court Oct. 1, Danielle Hare, 23, of Fredericksburg, pleaded guilty to three charges stemming from the Jan. 28 theft of copper and other metals from Jeffrey Scroggins Jr. She also faces additional indictments on similar charges in the theft of currency from Frances Pullen on Jan. 20.

As part of a plea agreement, Hare pleaded guilty to one felony charge of grand larceny and two amended charges. Originally charged with entering a structure to commit assault and battery (a felony) she pleaded guilty to an amended charge of trespassing after being forbidden to enter property (a misdemeanor). Originally charged with grand larceny (a felony), Hare pleaded guilty to and amended charge of petit larceny (a misdemeanor). She is scheduled for sentencing on all three charges Dec. 3.

Paul Alexander White, 28, of Woodbridge pleaded guilty to violating his probation on a felony offense of one count of possession with the intent to distribute (marijuana) and was sentenced to one year and seven months in the penitentiary (seven months suspended) and two years of unsupervised probation. This is his second violation. In circuit court Nov. 20, 2014, he pleaded guilty to violating his probation by testing positive for marijuana and cocaine, after which a part of his previous jail sentence was reimposed.

The charges date back to Oct. 14, 2012 when White was stopped by RCSO Deputy Christopher Koglin for a traffic violation and charged with driving under the influence of drugs and possession with intent to distribute. The DUI charge was later dropped as part of a plea agreement.

Sheriff’s report

On October 3, 2015, as the result of investigating a motor vehicle crash in the area of Scrabble Road and Shallow Creek Lane, RCSO Deputy D. Epley arrested Timothy Daniel Hadlock, 44, of Culpeper. Hadlock was charged with driving under the influence.

This Week’s Paper

All the news, no paper
For the current week's full Rappahannock News  usually available by 9 p.m. Wednesdays  check out our eEdition, where you can sign up for your free four-week, no-strings-attached trial subscription!